Jersey White Christmas (McRoll REAL World Story by Mari, Sammy, Ilna)
by ilna
Summary: Some things are more important than presents on Christmas morning, especially when you're from Hawaii. Part 6 of the 6th Annual McRoll in the REAL World Holiday Marathon.


_The marathon continues! There will be a new story every day between now and January 3rd. (Though we retain the right to keep going until January 5th if we're having too much fun.)_

**_Hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating today!_**

* * *

_Jersey White Christmas (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Mari, Sammy, and Ilna)_

"Hey," Steve murmured to Catherine and she lifted her head from his shoulder. In the early hours of Christmas morning, they'd had a private celebration after once again accompanying Nonna to midnight mass. "Did you just … giggle?"

A lower chuckle escaped her lips before she placed a kiss on his. "Maybe."

"'Cause that's not exactly the reaction I was going for, Lieutenant." His lip twitched into a smile.

"I wasn't laughing, well, I was, but it was just … look at us."

He pushed up on an elbow and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful, like always."

"Aww." She pecked his lips. "Thanks. I meant we're still …"

"Us," he finished knowingly.

"Us. A little older, two kids," her smile grew impossibly wider, "so much family, and so …" she shrugged, "happy. Settled."

He pulled her in for another kiss. "Settled. Having Christmas in New Jersey, with our kids, extended family, and," he shook his head, "Aunt Deb, Mary Joanie and Aaron."

"Exactly. So I wasn't _laughing_, laughing, I was just happy."

"Which makes you even more beautiful." He kissed her head as she snuggled against his side again and they fell silent.

After a few moments the quiet outside the house seemed different, and Steve shifted.

"What?" Catherine whispered.

"It's snowing," he said with conviction. The ambient sound had changed; his training had taught him the space between snowflakes meant less space for sound waves to bounce off of. The sudden enveloping quiet outside the house told him light, fluffy snow had begun to accumulate and he smiled.

Never questioning for a second how he knew because she trusted his instincts completely, Catherine beamed at the thought of Angie, DJ and the others experiencing their first snow. "The kids will be thrilled." She ran a gentle hand over his chest. "And ramped up to run around in it. We'd better get some sleep."

"Hmmm." He tightened his hold and she felt their hearts beating in sync as her fingers settled on his pulse point. "Merry Christmas, Cath." His voice was sleepy and content which made her smile.

"Merry Christmas, Steve."

* * *

Catherine and Steve smiled at the soft tap on the door followed by DJ's voice. "Mommy. Daddy. It's Christmas!"

"Come in," Catherine said as she sat up in bed. She and Steve had dressed an hour earlier and had been waiting, a little impatiently to be honest, for the children to get up.

The door swung open to reveal a wide-awake DJ holding a still sleepy looking Angie by the hand.

"Sanna came!" she said as she rubbed her eyes.

"There are presents under the tree!" DJ confirmed excitedly. "And Nonna made breakfast."

Angie crossed the room and pulled herself up onto the pullout couch to receive morning hugs and kisses.

Steve waved his hand at a somewhat unsure looking DJ. "Come on."

DJ's face split into a wide grin as he darted across the room and onto the bed to join the Christmas morning family hug.

* * *

Jacob rubbed his eyes sleepily as he made his way upstairs behind his brothers and Jadon. He still hadn't adjusted completely to the different time zone, but the smell of warm frittatas in the air was impossible to resist.

"Merry Christmas, sleepyheads," came Nonna's voice when they made it into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas," they chorused back.

"Hey, Jacob, guess what?" Danny said.

"What?"

"Santa didn't just leave presents last night …" He pulled back the curtain of the kitchen window to reveal the blanket of snow outside.

Jacob's eyes grew as wide as saucers and his mouth actually dropped open. He ran to the window and pressed his face and hands against it. The older three boys weren't far behind.

"It's snow!" he cried. "It's really really snow!"

"Whoa," Dylan breathed.

"What'd I tell ya?" Danny said, coming up behind them and smiling. "A white Christmas in New Jersey."

"You held up your end of the bargain all right, D-Dawg," Jadon said.

"Can we go out now, Cody?" Jacob begged. "Can we?"

Cody bit his lip, his own eyes transfixed by the winter wonderland outside. He glanced at the breakfast spread Nonna, Grandma Ang, and Elizabeth had gotten up early to prepare. "We should probably eat first …" he said, unconvincingly.

Jacob looked momentarily devastated but Nonna patted his cheek. "Eat quickly, cara, then you can play in the snow all day."

"Okay!" he cried and dashed to pick up a plate. "DJ!" he shouted as the younger boy came into the kitchen with Steve, Catherine, and Angie. "Look! It snowed! Aunt Catherine, Uncle Steve, Angie! _ It snowed_!"

DJ ran for the window. "Wow!" he said. "Angie! Look!"

"W'at dat, Mommy?" Angie asked, still sleepy in Catherine's arms but perking up at the excitement around her.

"That's snow, baby girl. After we eat breakfast and open Santa's presents, we'll go outside and you can play in it."

Jacob practically dropped his frittata. "But, but, Nonna said …" He looked back and forth between the adults. "Can't we wait to open presents?"

"Did I just hear my son say he wants to _wait_ to open presents?" Jenna asked, coming into the kitchen with Kaitlyn and Casey.

Elizabeth smiled. "When you see what's outside, you'll know why."

* * *

"IT'S SO FLUFFY!" Jacob exclaimed, for once _un_intentionally quoting one of his favorite movies. He gathered two armfuls of powdery, white snow and threw it in the air, beaming toward the sky as he let it fall over his face. "Best Christmas EVER!"

Joseph dodged the falling snow as he recorded the moment for posterity on his phone.

"Hah," Cody laughed, scooping handfuls of snow himself. "What are you gonna do first, Jake?"

"Let's build a snowman," Casey said.

Grace and Kaitlyn beamed and sang, "_Do you wanna build a snowman_?" together.

"Snow angels," Joan said, already laying down in the snow. "C'mon, Mommy."

"I'm not sure about this," Mary chuckled. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Go ahead." Aaron kissed the little patch of cheek visible between her sunglasses and her scarf. "I'll help you up if you need it."

"Snowball fight!" Jadon yelled, intending to nail Cody only to see the powdery snow disperse immediately. His face fell, but only momentarily, scooping up another handful and instead running toward his best friend who, guessing his intention, took off across the yard. He headed for protection from Jess and instead got a face full of snow from her, then Jadon's handfuls from behind.

"Ahh!" he cried, laughing.

"Bam! Doubleteam!" Jadon shouted, fist bumping Jess as Cody shook the snow from his hair.

"I wanna do it all!" Jacob cried, flopping face first in the snow. He looked up, snowflakes flecking his eyelashes and the hair peeking out from under his hat. "Hey, DJ. Wanna build a snow fort with me?"

"Yeah!" DJ cheered. "How do we build a snow fort?"

"I've seen it in lots of cartoons," Jacob answered confidently. "We can do it. Will you help us, Dylan? You're so good at building things."

"Sure." Dylan tried to appear nonchalant but the sparkle in his eyes gave his excitement away.

Jenna smiled as she watched the children soak in the new experience. "Looks like Cody is having as much fun as Jacob."

"This is your first time seeing snow too, isn't it?" Gabby asked.

When Jenna nodded Gabby leaned over and scooped up a handful of snow.

Jenna took a few steps back. "No, no no."

Gabby grinned. "You gotta get the full experience," she said as she grabbed the back of Jenna's coat and dropped the snow in.

* * *

"Down, Daddy," Angie demanded just seconds after she emerged from the house with Steve, Catherine and Elizabeth. "Angie do."

"You might want to be careful," Steve said as he put her down and made sure she was steady in her new snowsuit before letting go. "The snow is very …"

Before he could finish the sentence Angie took a few tottering steps forward and flopped down face first.

"Cold," he chuckled.

Angie pushed herself up and looked at them with a look of pure delight. " 'Now!"

"That's right." Catherine knelt beside her. "Isn't it fun?"

Angie scooped up some snow in her mittened hand and put it in her mouth. "Num!"

"That's my girl," Steve beamed proudly. "Examine every aspect."

* * *

"They look like they're working up an appetite out there," Nonna said as she Ang and Deb watched out the front window from the living room. "Maybe we should start getting lunch ready."

"I'm not sure we'll be able to drag them back inside before dinner," Deb joked.

"I was gonna say before bedtime," Ang chuckled. "They're having the time of their lives."

Nonna looked at the pile of still unopened presents under the tree. Given the choice of opening presents or going outside and reveling in the new sensation of snow with their family, both blood and otherwise, all of the children from youngest to oldest had chosen the shared experience.

"They have their priorities straight," she said proudly.

They all three watched as Danny emerged from the garage carrying an armload of plastic snow saucers.

"Who wants a sled ride?!" they heard him ask.

As the children began to cheer in unison Nonna smiled. "Maybe lunch can wait a little but I think I'll put on some hot chocolate."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Join us tomorrow for more marathon fun!**


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